I follow “Integrated Schools” as I feel they are doing the most important work—and there is a lot of important work. However one chooses to come at our problems we need to face racism and deal with it continually. They (IS) has a great book reading group. I have recently read some of the work by Linda Hammond-Darling and “Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit. Yours is a great question! Teachers will need to hear many different voices, recognize and honor differences in culture, know their own core subject matter, and how also to find from whom and where each unique person might best learn according to his/her interests. (Based on ideas in “The Universal Schoolhouse.) So much to juggle! I would include knowing about Sociocracy in order to hear everyone at repeating integrals and come to conclusions if not based on consensus, then on consent about how to move forward. Rinse and repeat. I would hope for future teachers to have the qualities and skills to educate community members and politicians, standing strong when needed.
Thank you for these ideas and resources! I agree about sociocracy and would love to experiment with this in a school setting. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities that exist and can be explored once we free ourselves from “same old” thinking!
Thanks for mentioning Darling and Delpit. I have not yet had a chance to look into their work, but it seems that Integrated Schools is one way of approaching "education reform." We need to expose both teachers and students to a diversity of viewpoints, and encourage dialogue where cultural assumptions are viewed without judgment. This is the challenge that lies ahead of us. I just ordered The Universal School house and will add it to my library of must-reads. have you posted this in our Holistic Earth Science Resource page yet?
“The Universal Schoolhouse” can be said to be dated. Well, yes, but there is still so much there! BTW Viola, I finally listened to an interview with Jeremy Lent. I will have to borrow/buy something of his. ❤️
As I read David Bohm’s “On Dialogue” I connect why I love the Integrated Schools group.
“When we come together to talk, or otherwise to act in common, can each of us be aware of the subtle fear and pleasure sensations that “block” his ability to listen freely? Without this awareness, the injunction to listen to the whole of what is said will have little meaning. But if each of us can give full attention to what is actually “blocking” communication while he is also attending properly to the content of what is communicated, then we may be able to create something new between us, something of very great significance for bringing to an end the at present insoluble problems of the individual and of society.”--D. Bohm
Integrated Schools’ people attend to long-standing inattentions to social injustice! So happy that in this coming year they will include problem topics: ‘systems and how to do we change them?’ and ‘what are the features of quality education?’
Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. is an American/Greek evolution biologist, futurist and author/lecturer:
“There are examples all over the world of building an economy based on loving, human relationships. I think the biggest wonderful task now is the racism challenge; if we can erase that one—if we can start truly seeing each other as equals, as brothers and sisters—then it’s a big step. We’re going to have to get back in touch with each other. “
“We had a whole new view of what heroism is, who we look up to as role models. And they were the caregivers: the doctors, the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the mask-makers, everybody who was caring.
We have to go universally as humans into caring and sharing, into understanding our oneness and that the crisis affects all of us equally. And the first thing that took us into a different kind of “new” was recognizing that racism had to end, that we are all one, that it is ridiculous to fight each other.”
I say YES, YES, YES, to Education Reform at all levels. We need to give up the old linear top down models of teaching and learning and go to the Holistic, systems-based curriculum. All your points are well supported and articulated. Thank you. I especially like the idea of teachers as Pied Pipers, leading their followers toward what I like to call "The Open Fields of Wonderment." Normally when I think of a Pied Piper nowadays, I imagine misinformed so-called leaders, leading their followers toward a cliff and pushing their constituents toward a dark abyss while they continue doing their "mischievous" deeds unimpeded. BUT, Pied Pipers can also lead us to the edge, where choices can be made, where all deep learning is possible. I think to get to this mode of learning and decision-making, we need to experience a personal inner shift in consciousness, one in which we can feel comfortable with uncertainty and "not knowing," --and a willingness to start from "Beginner's Mind." It's hard to admit that how we learned and how we taught in the past, no longer works. We see it in the dualities and divisions all around us. Check out Iain McGilchrist who has much to say about this in his new book The Matter with Things. He looks into questions like HOW do we pay attention, grow, and learn? At present, I think the questions we could ask are these: "Why does the old teaching/learning mindset no longer work? Where did we go wrong as a society and why are we still enslaved to that mindset? How can we change our thoughts and actions to find out what actually works. Recently I've been reading David Korten's book, Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth. I think this is great book for future teachers who are curious about the stories that have kept us locked in the old ways of being and doing. Yesterday at the annual Equinox Gathering with Fritjof Capra he recommended this article by Korten. I am now reading it as we speak. You can find "Ecological Civilization From Emergency to Emergence" at David Korten's website: https://davidkorten.org
Thank you for these great suggestions and resources, Viola! Excellent questions you're asking. I have read David Korten's book and he was one of the guest speakers at the Findhorn Great Turning Experiment course that I attended last year. He and his partner Fran were the founders of Yes! Magazine, which I have followed and supported for years--and even written for once, a special delight for me. I love the idea of "Open Fields of Wonderment." So rare in conventional educational settings these days, and so needed! As I prepare for my "Writing the Future" class I continue to resist setting the reading list and assignment structure for the course, as the syllabus would have me do. I want to co-create it with my students! Let's see if I have the courage to just hold the field open for us to meander into when the class starts next Tuesday. Strangely, in the academic context it often takes more courage to resist the role of Pied Piper. Really what I want is to open the door and follow where the "children" lead!
Jennifer, I want to wish you the best with your course on "Writing the Future." The title itself speaks volumes to me. Is this class being taught at a particular college and,or can any person from anywhere take it? I love the idea of co-creating the syllabus. It makes sense to me, understanding the concept of "Emergence" as a co-creative act. *** Have you posted this information in our Holistic Earth Science Resources page? I have not checked in for a couple of days. So much new information is coming in so fast all of a sudden. I just can't seem to keep up! *** I, too subscribe and support YES magazine. And by the way, I have the The Great Turning waiting to be read in my Kindle, but it's buried under piles of others. Now that you mention it, I think it's time to dig it out. For now, I'm still working on Change the Story, Change the Future. In case you have not seen Korten's webpage recently, there is a video of Fritjof Capra reviewing his work. Prof. Capra, my beloved mentor in the Capra Course, reviewed David Korten's work recently. A copy of the video is posted at https://davidkorten.org *** I think you would like what Capra has to offer in his book "The Systems View of Life."
I follow “Integrated Schools” as I feel they are doing the most important work—and there is a lot of important work. However one chooses to come at our problems we need to face racism and deal with it continually. They (IS) has a great book reading group. I have recently read some of the work by Linda Hammond-Darling and “Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit. Yours is a great question! Teachers will need to hear many different voices, recognize and honor differences in culture, know their own core subject matter, and how also to find from whom and where each unique person might best learn according to his/her interests. (Based on ideas in “The Universal Schoolhouse.) So much to juggle! I would include knowing about Sociocracy in order to hear everyone at repeating integrals and come to conclusions if not based on consensus, then on consent about how to move forward. Rinse and repeat. I would hope for future teachers to have the qualities and skills to educate community members and politicians, standing strong when needed.
Thank you for these ideas and resources! I agree about sociocracy and would love to experiment with this in a school setting. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities that exist and can be explored once we free ourselves from “same old” thinking!
I shared this over at Pedagogical Paradigms and thought to post it here too. —About Sociocracy.
https://www.progressiveeducation.org/democratic-empowerment-how-do-students-feel-about-their-student-council-by-hope-wilder/?fbclid=IwAR1ueBEPj0MYSTVPef4OTjNUcxSb1I6OhSEyRmLYVHfu8vpXXuTlpehj2S8
THANK YOU!!
Thanks for mentioning Darling and Delpit. I have not yet had a chance to look into their work, but it seems that Integrated Schools is one way of approaching "education reform." We need to expose both teachers and students to a diversity of viewpoints, and encourage dialogue where cultural assumptions are viewed without judgment. This is the challenge that lies ahead of us. I just ordered The Universal School house and will add it to my library of must-reads. have you posted this in our Holistic Earth Science Resource page yet?
“The Universal Schoolhouse” can be said to be dated. Well, yes, but there is still so much there! BTW Viola, I finally listened to an interview with Jeremy Lent. I will have to borrow/buy something of his. ❤️
I belong to Jeremy Kent’s Deep Transformation online community. Lots of good people and events there!
https://deeptransformation.network/feed
As I read David Bohm’s “On Dialogue” I connect why I love the Integrated Schools group.
“When we come together to talk, or otherwise to act in common, can each of us be aware of the subtle fear and pleasure sensations that “block” his ability to listen freely? Without this awareness, the injunction to listen to the whole of what is said will have little meaning. But if each of us can give full attention to what is actually “blocking” communication while he is also attending properly to the content of what is communicated, then we may be able to create something new between us, something of very great significance for bringing to an end the at present insoluble problems of the individual and of society.”--D. Bohm
Integrated Schools’ people attend to long-standing inattentions to social injustice! So happy that in this coming year they will include problem topics: ‘systems and how to do we change them?’ and ‘what are the features of quality education?’
Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. is an American/Greek evolution biologist, futurist and author/lecturer:
“There are examples all over the world of building an economy based on loving, human relationships. I think the biggest wonderful task now is the racism challenge; if we can erase that one—if we can start truly seeing each other as equals, as brothers and sisters—then it’s a big step. We’re going to have to get back in touch with each other. “
“We had a whole new view of what heroism is, who we look up to as role models. And they were the caregivers: the doctors, the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the mask-makers, everybody who was caring.
We have to go universally as humans into caring and sharing, into understanding our oneness and that the crisis affects all of us equally. And the first thing that took us into a different kind of “new” was recognizing that racism had to end, that we are all one, that it is ridiculous to fight each other.”
https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/humanity-and-the-microbe-a-soul-agreement/
———————————————————————
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqCz-baNdEY
41:00 “Racism is holding up everything!”—Elisabet Sahtouris
—————————————————————————————————
I say YES, YES, YES, to Education Reform at all levels. We need to give up the old linear top down models of teaching and learning and go to the Holistic, systems-based curriculum. All your points are well supported and articulated. Thank you. I especially like the idea of teachers as Pied Pipers, leading their followers toward what I like to call "The Open Fields of Wonderment." Normally when I think of a Pied Piper nowadays, I imagine misinformed so-called leaders, leading their followers toward a cliff and pushing their constituents toward a dark abyss while they continue doing their "mischievous" deeds unimpeded. BUT, Pied Pipers can also lead us to the edge, where choices can be made, where all deep learning is possible. I think to get to this mode of learning and decision-making, we need to experience a personal inner shift in consciousness, one in which we can feel comfortable with uncertainty and "not knowing," --and a willingness to start from "Beginner's Mind." It's hard to admit that how we learned and how we taught in the past, no longer works. We see it in the dualities and divisions all around us. Check out Iain McGilchrist who has much to say about this in his new book The Matter with Things. He looks into questions like HOW do we pay attention, grow, and learn? At present, I think the questions we could ask are these: "Why does the old teaching/learning mindset no longer work? Where did we go wrong as a society and why are we still enslaved to that mindset? How can we change our thoughts and actions to find out what actually works. Recently I've been reading David Korten's book, Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth. I think this is great book for future teachers who are curious about the stories that have kept us locked in the old ways of being and doing. Yesterday at the annual Equinox Gathering with Fritjof Capra he recommended this article by Korten. I am now reading it as we speak. You can find "Ecological Civilization From Emergency to Emergence" at David Korten's website: https://davidkorten.org
Thank you for these great suggestions and resources, Viola! Excellent questions you're asking. I have read David Korten's book and he was one of the guest speakers at the Findhorn Great Turning Experiment course that I attended last year. He and his partner Fran were the founders of Yes! Magazine, which I have followed and supported for years--and even written for once, a special delight for me. I love the idea of "Open Fields of Wonderment." So rare in conventional educational settings these days, and so needed! As I prepare for my "Writing the Future" class I continue to resist setting the reading list and assignment structure for the course, as the syllabus would have me do. I want to co-create it with my students! Let's see if I have the courage to just hold the field open for us to meander into when the class starts next Tuesday. Strangely, in the academic context it often takes more courage to resist the role of Pied Piper. Really what I want is to open the door and follow where the "children" lead!
Jennifer, I want to wish you the best with your course on "Writing the Future." The title itself speaks volumes to me. Is this class being taught at a particular college and,or can any person from anywhere take it? I love the idea of co-creating the syllabus. It makes sense to me, understanding the concept of "Emergence" as a co-creative act. *** Have you posted this information in our Holistic Earth Science Resources page? I have not checked in for a couple of days. So much new information is coming in so fast all of a sudden. I just can't seem to keep up! *** I, too subscribe and support YES magazine. And by the way, I have the The Great Turning waiting to be read in my Kindle, but it's buried under piles of others. Now that you mention it, I think it's time to dig it out. For now, I'm still working on Change the Story, Change the Future. In case you have not seen Korten's webpage recently, there is a video of Fritjof Capra reviewing his work. Prof. Capra, my beloved mentor in the Capra Course, reviewed David Korten's work recently. A copy of the video is posted at https://davidkorten.org *** I think you would like what Capra has to offer in his book "The Systems View of Life."